Massaman Curry with Beef

This is another of Pailin's excellent recipes, which I'm posting here to record the modifications I made to fit the brand of curry paste available to me and my family's personal preferences. We absolutely love massaman curry, and this recipe in particular - I strongly recommend checking out Pailin's original recipe for a fuller version!

Ukrainian-style Braised Beef and Potatoes

This braised beef and potato dish - жаркое (zharkoye) - is a beautifully hearty, delicious taste of Eastern Europe. My recipe is a blend of Tatyana's lovely recipe and Catalina's version. I hope it warms your stomach and heart the way it does mine!

Sweet Potato, Black Bean, 'n Corn Stew

Necessity is the mother of invention, and in this case necessity was clearing out more of our pantry and freezer. And I sure am happy it was, because I stumbled across this great recipe and then realized it was similar to one of my favorite salad recipes. The resulting fusion is a gorgeous cold weather version of my salad recipe, and makes a hearty, excellent vegan, vegetarian, or meaty meal depending on how you make it!

Homemade Hamburger Helper

I think a lot of North American kids - from my generation at least! - grew up eating Hamburger Helper fairly regularly. I remember falling out of love with it by middle school, and as far as I can recall I haven't had it since. (Not voluntarily anyways!) Lately, however, we've been trying to clean out our pantry and when trying to figure out what I could do to maximize pantry and freezer-emptying I realized that we had all the ingredients for hamburger helper. I didn't expect to particularly like the results - made from an adaptation of this lovely recipe - but it was a hit and made for decent leftovers the next day as well. There are a million versions of this out there, what's below is my twist made for my family's tastes. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Unstuffed Peppers

As anyone who's taken a look through my recipes know, I'm all about keeping things easy. (Life's busy enough as it is!) This past weekend I found myself with plenty of time...for a nap. After that nap I rummaged through the pantry to see what we had on hand for lunch, and realized I could make two stuffed peppers...or try unstuffing them to make a proper meal.

Bulgogi Ground Beef

This excellent 'short cut,' North American-style bulgogi was an instant favorite the first time I made it and is great on its own over rice or as a bibimbap topping. It is largely based on this great recipe, but I made one or two adjustments to make it better fit my family's preferences. Whatever you prepare  it for, I hope you like it as much as we do!

Cabbage Roll Soup

This is another of those recipes whose flavors and smells bring back so many beautiful memories! As far back as I can remember - which admittedly is not very far! - I've loved eating cabbage rolls, but haven't much enjoyed making them. On the rare occasion I've attempted them on my own the cabbage leaves have either been too firm or too soft, cracking or tearing with abandon and leaving me with quite the mess afterwards. By contrast, my godmother and Ukrainian, Russian, and Romanian friends' cabbage rolls are always so beautifully perfect, a feast for the eye as well as the mouth.

Beef Keema Aloo

I grew up eating South Asian food, but I often find making it myself to be a daunting task given the number of ingredients, toasting spices, and on and on. I appreciate the results, but often don't want to be responsible for them myself. That being the case, this simplified recipe for beef keema aloo (with some adaptations of my own) has become a favorite weeknight meal as it doesn't require a lot of extra steps or time to throw together. My apologies to any South Asian readers out there, I know this recipe is probably far from what it should be. It's a nice shortcut to a delicious weekday dinner, however, and I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!

Spaghetti al Berberè (with beef)

 One of my favorite meals when traveling by bus through the Ethiopian Highlands was Ethiopian-style spaghetti. I lived in Addis Abeba at the time, and there Italian food was beautifully faithful to Italian standards. (I'm still looking for a decent pizza place all these years later!) But in the countryside what Italian food there was made more in keeping with local tastes!

Beef Carrot Cutlets

Котлеты ("kotlety") or 'cutlets' are a staple across much of the former USSR. Originally developed in the Russian Empire, they became a standard feature of many of the work and school canteens of the Soviet Union and remain widespread today. They were always a favorite of mine, both in Russia and Ukraine when I lived there and at my godmother's house. 

Easy Tater Tot Casserole

This is a classic of North American cookery and a personal favorite! The following is based on the lovely "tater tot hot dish" recipe from the wonderful cooks of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Narol, Manitoba, as recorded in their 2011 Centennial Cookbook. I've made my usual modifications - lets be honest, primarily copious amounts of garlic! - but the core is unchanged. Narol's master chefs dedicated their cookbook to the founders of their parish, Orthodox Ukrainians from what in 1911 was the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. May their memories be eternal! Вічная пам'ять!

Ruz be T'ibs

T'ibs is an old favorite of mine from Ethiopia and since I still have a bunch of berbere I decided to try my hand at making t'ibs before Lent arrives. (Actually, before Monday arrives - in the Byzantine Rite we stop eating meat a week before Lent actually begins.)